July 30, 2003
July 30, 2003
Welcome to the Barren Realms MUD newsletter! Visit BR at telnet://barren.coredcs.com:8000/
-----------------------------
Ideas:
Cacophony: implement lose all, similar to group all
Cacophony: a way to recall with your vehicle (at a cost of 75%? 90%?) mv
Puppetmon: I think High Level Druids alts are being used as mana batteries, why not just remove energy transfer skills?
Sozz: Timestamps on chath and heroh...and questh
Araby: Show the align of your group members in the "group" command
Again: it would be nice if the messages for protection wearing off and armor wearing off were different...
Ghaleon: beeph would be really helpful *g*
Puppetmon: what about an enflame armor spell? to be used on armor with a magic flag
Puppetmon: Put an Asterix "*" next to OOG skills when you type slist
Puppetmon: Add a help file for Save vs Spell, it could save alot of time for people who arent aware of what it is
Puppetmon: Spell or idea that gets rid of mobs flying flag, besides dispel magic
AMystery: how about a time stamp a few channels, especially info and whatever newbies show on for heroes
---------------------
Quests Running Now:
WouRang: A Vampire Quest II
Tue Jul 29 20:18:03 2003
To: all
BLAST THOSE IMMORTALS!
Here's another chance for you mortals or heroes to help me out.
The immortals aren't demanding sacrifice like they used to
Because of this I won't be able to revive my vampire queen
Since there is no blood in the br reserve anymore
What I need you to do is gather everything that is red and put it
In a pack with one of your bps (body parts).
this quest ends august 2, I need all packs on august 2
hosting this will be EB, if you have any questions note me or if you see me online send me a tell
RULES
_no locate_
"red" has to be in the items name
have fun
Quest Results:
Lairian: Death Potion Roulette!
I'd like to thank those that showed up for the quest!
In the first round, Ankou won, followed by Stars and Gow, with FlyBy, Smeagain, and Cord following.
In the second, FlyBy, Score, and Cord prevailed with Smegain, Gow, Stars, Ankou, and Phreak following.
Consolation prizes were given, and those who came in first, second, or third either round need to talk to Leiland for a prize if they havn't gotten one already.
Thank you Leiland for sponsoring!
Ghaleon: Impromptu Quest
Wed Jul 30 03:03:18 2003
To: all
I held a quest early morning, although I prefer it calling late at night.
Kazuma, Ankou, and HappyCamper helped me look for 5 items and they
did really good. If you want to try here are the 5 items. No prezzie though
A bottle of poison lies here.
There is a long black stick here.
a small dusk of poison ivy
A human skull lies here.
An old science book lies here.
-------------------------
Responses by Slart:
=====================================================================
> Ideas:
>
> Ghaleon: Can it show in the profile what avatar# we are
> at?
Yeah, probably. I'd be willing to entertain ideas on how it
might be included without looking too clumsy.
> Disaster: profile should list the true sex of the
> character, not the sex as modified by change sex
This turns out to be more trouble than it's probably worth;
I'd like to read as little of the pfile as possible for
profile data.
> Disaster: look 2.item please, please, PLEASE look 2.item
> *begs*
Someday when I rewrite the WHOLE FREAKING MUD this will be
possible. Until that day, consider this impossible for
reasons that are too complex, esoteric, arcane, and just
plain icky to divulge in detail.
> Disaster: a skill toss that would toss a potion at an
> enemy, to cause teh spells of the potion to act on the enemy
Surely many/most potions must be taken internally for proper
effects.
> Disaster: "bless" flags should actually do something, like
> giving an extra 5 hp mana mv recovery per tick or something
> like that
Bless flags actually do have an effect. They affect the
weight of the item to a small degree.
> Disaster: an option that can be turned off allowing us to
> not automaticly respond when hit by a spell (so we can watch
> mortals kill stuff, but not attack when an area spell hits
> us
This is worth considering, but I'm not wild about spending a
lot of time on changes that are only really useful in the
arena. Maybe we should have a special archive of arena
ideas that we could implement en masse should we ever decide
we have the time and/or ambition.
> Araby: If an item is invisible, it shouldn't glow/hum,
> just a thought
What's to say it doesn't glow only for those who can see
invisible items? Humming, on the other hand, does create a
bit of a logical inconsistency; even if you can't see it,
you should be able to hear it...unless that's part of the
magic, perhaps?
Yeah, that's the ticket. It's all part of the magic.
*nod self*
> Oversoul: when you identify pills, it should say what
> spell they cast
On one hand, I don't have a huge problem with this. On the
other hand, I do think the try-it-and-see element of pills
is sort of fun and helps make them unique.
> Bedlam: protected mobs shouldn't be thieves
Put most of your money in the bank, and the rest in your
pack. Until more people actually use the bank, I'd just as
soon have ALL thieves be protected mobs!
> Anguish: if an item has an evil alignment and it is
> enchanted, the originally alignment should be removed and
> replaced with the spell caster's alignment
Nice try, but you're not getting the ability to change the
align flags on an item for free. Sorry.
> Suicide: personalized items sold to a shop should go "poof"
Yeah, this is probably true, come to think of it...
> Exo: i think we should have a base hp thing on our stat
> screens, like what our hp and mana and movment are without
> eq or spells on us
The infrastructure for this WILL be done someday, at which
point putting that information in the stat/info output won't
be that hard.
> Exo: i think that neuter heroes should have a HEROIT on
> the who list, since female heroes have heroine on thiers
This has historically been something that higher-level imms
will do for you if you ask nicely enough and/or perform some
personal task they might decide to require.
> Oversoul: Change the drink command. newbies get confused
> when it says "You are not thirsty".
Yes, this is mildly misleading.
> Smeagain: If you healed/regained mana which was a
> percentage of your max instead of a fixed amount per tick
> the game would be far more playable and socialable as you
> wouldnt have to spend sooooo much time drunk and asleep when
> your stats get higher.
Improving mana regen rates is not something I'm in a hurry
to do. The game balance issues spiral rapidly out of
control. I also believe there should be some tradeoff for
raising your stats to extraordinarily high levels...the
whole "phenomenal cosmic power/itty bitty living space"
deal.
> DwarfMan: Cancel the yell channel. "Y" is next to "T", and
> it sometimes turns into Yell instead of Tell. My tells often
> contain profanity; There's no need for yell channel, we
> already have shout!
Yell can be fun, and besides that I can't see why we need to
remove a whole channel just to accommodate your potty mouth
and bad typing.
> Millions: Vehicles shouldn't melt--could be towed or
> something but you rarely see a car "melt"
File this under "worthwhile but purely aesthetic
improvements that should go on the end of the to-do list but
probably will be ignored for a few months." It's the best I
can do; I have much work to do just now (some of which you
guys will even LIKE)!
> Bedlam: a "BR timeline" on the site, saying important
> dates and changes, like herolevels, rehero, remort, etc
If there's anyone who actually remembers dates for these
things and feels like compiling this, I think it would be
fun.
> Ghaleon: "mana shield" spell where a part of the damage
> falls under mana
This is sort of interesting. The net effect is similar to
heal or sanctuary; it'd have to be balanced carefully, but I
suppose the real question is whether it's different enough
from the spells we already have to be worthwhile.
> Puppetmon: Putting the numerical damange on the screen in
> parenthesis maybe EX DISCOMBOBULATE (143)
I have argued against this in the forums. What's wrong with
a little mystery?
> Kharn: dwarves should not be hit by lightning if any
> non-dwarf character is in the room (coz those are taller)
It's a little-known fact that dwarves have surprising
electrochemical properties which make them much likelier
statistical candidates for being struck by lightning than
their height would ordinarily suggest.
...or something like that, anyway.
> Squidster: you should be able to use vision while resting.
> it's just sight!
It's a little-known fact that the ability of avians to
dramatically improve their vision on command is based
biologically not in their eyes, but in their ears, and a
highly evolved two-way neurological connection between the
visual and auditory cortices and cerebellum in the avian
brain and an avian's eyes, ears, and vestibular system.
This bit of biological cross-wiring allows them to
subconsciously augment the purely light-based images their
eyes capture with sonar-like data drawn from subsonic
vibrations in the air resonating through their hollow bones
and thin skull which are picked up by the inner ear. The
net result of this is that avians can then "see" otherwise
hidden or invisible aspects of their environment. These
neurological connections lie dormant most of the time, fully
activated only by a conscious effort on the part of the
sufficiently experienced avian. Because of the connection
to their highly developed sense of balance, avians must be
standing in order for this effort to achieve the desired
result, lest any altered equilibrium cause their brain to
incorrectly calibrate the additional visual data. Once the
connection is made, however, standing is no longer necessary
for some time.
...or something like that, anyway.
> Glorn: When trying to wear an item, it check and default
> to remove the item that isn't it, e.g. it should not try to
> replace itself.
There are instances in which this is actually desirable. If
you want to force a slot, remove the other thing. Most
people would be seriously confused if they found themselves
suddenly unable to replace an item with a slightly better
copy of the same thing.
> AMystery: we need an exit survey. when someone deletes
> they should be asked a few questions, at least one asking
> for a reason. it would be a good way to learn what people
> dislike
This is a good idea, but something tells me most people in
the process of deleting characters are either a) long-term
players here with many characters or b) probably not in the
mood to respond earnestly to our exit survey.
> Squiddy: when you look at a demon with a head, it should
> say "Another head even uglier than his/her/its first one"
> insead of "...YOUR first one"
Yeah, yeah. Properly correcting for mud grammar on the fly
is a difficult problem to solve.
> Squiddy: Newbies should get a little thing that imms do to
> send a message to the whole realms that suggests to go to
> the BR web page and read the new player guide
We could put that in the newbie text just below the MOTD, I
suppose.
> Puppetmon: Make it so you can make recall to different
> cities, such as Malathar, Malcandria, Pelendra
Unless Kiri aggressively demands it, I'm never changing word
of recall. Ever. You want to go to Malathar? Walk.
> Ghaleon: Infravision should also work on the "exit"
> command and say the room next to it, instead of "Too dark to
> tell."
Maybe you can make out what the mobs are, but you still
can't quite tell exactly what else is in the next room.
> Cacophony: an offhand (item) command, since really someone
> would be able to chose which item to hold in which hand
> without the need to trick themselves by wearing a rock
> hammer first
There already IS an offhand command...
> Beakster: explain what exactly a quest is in the help
> quest
I think quests are something that's actually better
experienced than explained. Or maybe experienced AS
they're explained.
> By Rabies:
>
> Been a while since I went on a submitting spree, but I
> heard on the message board that this was a good time to
> submit ideas.
>
> A "speco_evil" for mobs:
> Combat:
> Casts curse, blind, web, and illusion in combat
> If health < 25%, will cast "bamf" on players
> Attempts to summon helper monsters in combat (looks for an extra
> description in the room, something like "smon [mnum]"
>
> Outside of combat:
> Will cast spells to heal itself to at least 50% health
> before taking active actions.
> Has memory.
> Will use "where" to scan for players it hates in its area
> and teleport to them to attack.
> Remembers its "home" square and teleports back after fights.
> Will teleport unworthy opponents (> 5 level difference) to
> a specified room number after making a snarky comment.
> ("Begone, pathetic wretch. I have no time to waste on the
> likes of you!") This, like the summoning, would also be
> easiest to accomplish with an extra room description. At
> least until Slart allows specos to take arguments,
> anyway...
>
> Submitted another pair of speco ideas via the "idea"
> command, since they were short. Plenty more if you want
> them - some practical, some not.
>
> -N/Rabies
Maybe we could call it "speco_rabies_is_evil".
-Slart
--------------------
Kiri's WWW of URLs:
Are you stressed? From Scavenger.
http://webpages.charter.net/hkirtley/stress/
Check out this neat Kitty world
http://www.byardenc.om/writing/pets/fun ... house.html
The Smoking Gun- read all the fun legal stuff on celebs
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/
The Sun, Britain's biggest selling trash newspaper. But oooh so much fun to read
http://www.thesun.co.uk/
--------------------
From Amystery:
Unfortunately I can't claim credit for this amazing story, but it bears repeating, at least for the computer geeks in the audience.
IBM, Red Hat, and SuSE are bikers hanging out at a seedy bar in Southern California, by the shore. Their harleys are parked out front, all choppers, gleaming and evil looking. Currently, IBM and Red Hat are playing a traditional game: each holds a lit cigar to his forearm while SuSE counts the seconds, with two twenty dollar bills at stake. A few feet away, the BSD brothers are playing cards at an outside table, a quart of Mexican tequila and a bunch of shotglasses next to the deck. Periodically, they throw back a shot. Their rusty Jeep Renegade sits nearby. Suddenly, there's a little lawnmower sound. A go-kart with a broken muffler pulls up, bumping into the Harleys and knocking them down. IBM, Red Hat, and Suse ferociously stride over and bellow.
"HEY, MAN! THOSE ARE OUR BIKES!"
A fat little kid wearing a shirt with wide horizontal stripes and a pair of bermuda shorts held up by orange suspenders jumps out of the go-kart and saunters over to the bikes. He's got freckles, bright red hair, and triple-thick glasses. He's obviously not "all there".
Fat kid: "Hi. I'm SCO. Motorbikes suck; I drive a go-kart." (kicks the nearest bike, breaking the headlight). If it wasn't for my Go-Kart technology, you wouldn't even HAVE these bikes. You should buy me some beers in appreciation."
IBM: (seething). "That was my bike. Kid, you really shouldn't have done that." Red Hat: (shakes head). SuSE: (muttering) "Gott in Himmel" (laughs)
IBM walks over, grabs the kid by the suspenders, and lifts him clear off the ground, bouncing him up and down while looking him over. Then, he tosses the kid way up in the air, catching him on the way down by his underwear waistband and yanking upwards with both hands. With a great stretching sound, the drawers pull all the way over the kid's head. IBM lets go, and they snap into place.
Everyone: MUHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Red Hat: "Hey, IBM, do that shit again!" SuSE: "Funny!" The BSD brothers: "huh huh huh huh -- HE said SHIT!"
SCO (through his underwear): "You buncha creeps! My grandfather used to own this land. I'll tear down this bar and make you take your alky bullshit somewhere else! And, what's up with that biker gay-chic thing?"
IBM: "Oh, my lawd, he went there." Red Hat: "Oh, you didn't..." SuSE: "Uh oh..." BSD Brother number 1: "Oh, boy, here we go."
IBM leans over, grabs the kid by the ankles, and heads to the outhouse. He kicks the door open, goes in, and the door slams.
(from inside)
SCO: Noooooooooo!
(SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH).
IBM comes walking back out, without SCO. He takes a long pull from the tequila bottle.
IBM: "Damn." BSD Brothers, in unison: "What, what happened, man?" IBM: "Damn..." Red Hat: "Hey, where'd the brat go?" SuSE: "Yeah, you gave him the swirly, right?" IBM: "Yep." Red Hat: "So... ?" IBM: "He's a slippery little bastard when he gets wet. Popped right out of my hands and went down into the latrine!"
Everyone: "NO WAY!"
IBM: "Yeah... Poor little bastard. Ah, well. What can you do? Maybe he'll swim back up outta it."
(about a minute later)
SCO flops out of the toilet seat, landing on the ground in front of the toilet, covered in green goo.
SCO: "URH! URG! CTHULU FLAGNTH!" Red Hat: "Hey, boys, somethin' ain't right about that kid, man. It looks like he's growin' fins."
Everyone looks. SCO has turned into a weirdo fish-man.
SCO: "CTHULU FLAGNTH!" IBM: "Well, whaddaya know?"
SCO runs across the parking lot, and leaps off the cliff into the sea.
SCO: "CTHULU FLAAAAAAAAAAAGNTH!" (SPLASH)
IBM, looking over the edge. "Well, I guess that's about that." Red Hat: "You don't see THAT every day." SuSE: "Pass me that there tequila bottle, ok?"
(fade to black)
You all thought I was going to get into the Microsoft/Cthulu thing, didn'tcha? Ha! Fooled ya!
Taken from a Slashdot.org post by:
crazyphilman (609923) on Tuesday July 08, @04:22PM (#6395029)
-----------------------------
Ideas:
Cacophony: implement lose all, similar to group all
Cacophony: a way to recall with your vehicle (at a cost of 75%? 90%?) mv
Puppetmon: I think High Level Druids alts are being used as mana batteries, why not just remove energy transfer skills?
Sozz: Timestamps on chath and heroh...and questh
Araby: Show the align of your group members in the "group" command
Again: it would be nice if the messages for protection wearing off and armor wearing off were different...
Ghaleon: beeph would be really helpful *g*
Puppetmon: what about an enflame armor spell? to be used on armor with a magic flag
Puppetmon: Put an Asterix "*" next to OOG skills when you type slist
Puppetmon: Add a help file for Save vs Spell, it could save alot of time for people who arent aware of what it is
Puppetmon: Spell or idea that gets rid of mobs flying flag, besides dispel magic
AMystery: how about a time stamp a few channels, especially info and whatever newbies show on for heroes
---------------------
Quests Running Now:
WouRang: A Vampire Quest II
Tue Jul 29 20:18:03 2003
To: all
BLAST THOSE IMMORTALS!
Here's another chance for you mortals or heroes to help me out.
The immortals aren't demanding sacrifice like they used to
Because of this I won't be able to revive my vampire queen
Since there is no blood in the br reserve anymore
What I need you to do is gather everything that is red and put it
In a pack with one of your bps (body parts).
this quest ends august 2, I need all packs on august 2
hosting this will be EB, if you have any questions note me or if you see me online send me a tell
RULES
_no locate_
"red" has to be in the items name
have fun
Quest Results:
Lairian: Death Potion Roulette!
I'd like to thank those that showed up for the quest!
In the first round, Ankou won, followed by Stars and Gow, with FlyBy, Smeagain, and Cord following.
In the second, FlyBy, Score, and Cord prevailed with Smegain, Gow, Stars, Ankou, and Phreak following.
Consolation prizes were given, and those who came in first, second, or third either round need to talk to Leiland for a prize if they havn't gotten one already.
Thank you Leiland for sponsoring!
Ghaleon: Impromptu Quest
Wed Jul 30 03:03:18 2003
To: all
I held a quest early morning, although I prefer it calling late at night.
Kazuma, Ankou, and HappyCamper helped me look for 5 items and they
did really good. If you want to try here are the 5 items. No prezzie though
A bottle of poison lies here.
There is a long black stick here.
a small dusk of poison ivy
A human skull lies here.
An old science book lies here.
-------------------------
Responses by Slart:
=====================================================================
> Ideas:
>
> Ghaleon: Can it show in the profile what avatar# we are
> at?
Yeah, probably. I'd be willing to entertain ideas on how it
might be included without looking too clumsy.
> Disaster: profile should list the true sex of the
> character, not the sex as modified by change sex
This turns out to be more trouble than it's probably worth;
I'd like to read as little of the pfile as possible for
profile data.
> Disaster: look 2.item please, please, PLEASE look 2.item
> *begs*
Someday when I rewrite the WHOLE FREAKING MUD this will be
possible. Until that day, consider this impossible for
reasons that are too complex, esoteric, arcane, and just
plain icky to divulge in detail.
> Disaster: a skill toss that would toss a potion at an
> enemy, to cause teh spells of the potion to act on the enemy
Surely many/most potions must be taken internally for proper
effects.
> Disaster: "bless" flags should actually do something, like
> giving an extra 5 hp mana mv recovery per tick or something
> like that
Bless flags actually do have an effect. They affect the
weight of the item to a small degree.
> Disaster: an option that can be turned off allowing us to
> not automaticly respond when hit by a spell (so we can watch
> mortals kill stuff, but not attack when an area spell hits
> us
This is worth considering, but I'm not wild about spending a
lot of time on changes that are only really useful in the
arena. Maybe we should have a special archive of arena
ideas that we could implement en masse should we ever decide
we have the time and/or ambition.
> Araby: If an item is invisible, it shouldn't glow/hum,
> just a thought
What's to say it doesn't glow only for those who can see
invisible items? Humming, on the other hand, does create a
bit of a logical inconsistency; even if you can't see it,
you should be able to hear it...unless that's part of the
magic, perhaps?
Yeah, that's the ticket. It's all part of the magic.
*nod self*
> Oversoul: when you identify pills, it should say what
> spell they cast
On one hand, I don't have a huge problem with this. On the
other hand, I do think the try-it-and-see element of pills
is sort of fun and helps make them unique.
> Bedlam: protected mobs shouldn't be thieves
Put most of your money in the bank, and the rest in your
pack. Until more people actually use the bank, I'd just as
soon have ALL thieves be protected mobs!
> Anguish: if an item has an evil alignment and it is
> enchanted, the originally alignment should be removed and
> replaced with the spell caster's alignment
Nice try, but you're not getting the ability to change the
align flags on an item for free. Sorry.
> Suicide: personalized items sold to a shop should go "poof"
Yeah, this is probably true, come to think of it...
> Exo: i think we should have a base hp thing on our stat
> screens, like what our hp and mana and movment are without
> eq or spells on us
The infrastructure for this WILL be done someday, at which
point putting that information in the stat/info output won't
be that hard.
> Exo: i think that neuter heroes should have a HEROIT on
> the who list, since female heroes have heroine on thiers
This has historically been something that higher-level imms
will do for you if you ask nicely enough and/or perform some
personal task they might decide to require.
> Oversoul: Change the drink command. newbies get confused
> when it says "You are not thirsty".
Yes, this is mildly misleading.
> Smeagain: If you healed/regained mana which was a
> percentage of your max instead of a fixed amount per tick
> the game would be far more playable and socialable as you
> wouldnt have to spend sooooo much time drunk and asleep when
> your stats get higher.
Improving mana regen rates is not something I'm in a hurry
to do. The game balance issues spiral rapidly out of
control. I also believe there should be some tradeoff for
raising your stats to extraordinarily high levels...the
whole "phenomenal cosmic power/itty bitty living space"
deal.
> DwarfMan: Cancel the yell channel. "Y" is next to "T", and
> it sometimes turns into Yell instead of Tell. My tells often
> contain profanity; There's no need for yell channel, we
> already have shout!
Yell can be fun, and besides that I can't see why we need to
remove a whole channel just to accommodate your potty mouth
and bad typing.
> Millions: Vehicles shouldn't melt--could be towed or
> something but you rarely see a car "melt"
File this under "worthwhile but purely aesthetic
improvements that should go on the end of the to-do list but
probably will be ignored for a few months." It's the best I
can do; I have much work to do just now (some of which you
guys will even LIKE)!
> Bedlam: a "BR timeline" on the site, saying important
> dates and changes, like herolevels, rehero, remort, etc
If there's anyone who actually remembers dates for these
things and feels like compiling this, I think it would be
fun.
> Ghaleon: "mana shield" spell where a part of the damage
> falls under mana
This is sort of interesting. The net effect is similar to
heal or sanctuary; it'd have to be balanced carefully, but I
suppose the real question is whether it's different enough
from the spells we already have to be worthwhile.
> Puppetmon: Putting the numerical damange on the screen in
> parenthesis maybe EX DISCOMBOBULATE (143)
I have argued against this in the forums. What's wrong with
a little mystery?
> Kharn: dwarves should not be hit by lightning if any
> non-dwarf character is in the room (coz those are taller)
It's a little-known fact that dwarves have surprising
electrochemical properties which make them much likelier
statistical candidates for being struck by lightning than
their height would ordinarily suggest.
...or something like that, anyway.
> Squidster: you should be able to use vision while resting.
> it's just sight!
It's a little-known fact that the ability of avians to
dramatically improve their vision on command is based
biologically not in their eyes, but in their ears, and a
highly evolved two-way neurological connection between the
visual and auditory cortices and cerebellum in the avian
brain and an avian's eyes, ears, and vestibular system.
This bit of biological cross-wiring allows them to
subconsciously augment the purely light-based images their
eyes capture with sonar-like data drawn from subsonic
vibrations in the air resonating through their hollow bones
and thin skull which are picked up by the inner ear. The
net result of this is that avians can then "see" otherwise
hidden or invisible aspects of their environment. These
neurological connections lie dormant most of the time, fully
activated only by a conscious effort on the part of the
sufficiently experienced avian. Because of the connection
to their highly developed sense of balance, avians must be
standing in order for this effort to achieve the desired
result, lest any altered equilibrium cause their brain to
incorrectly calibrate the additional visual data. Once the
connection is made, however, standing is no longer necessary
for some time.
...or something like that, anyway.
> Glorn: When trying to wear an item, it check and default
> to remove the item that isn't it, e.g. it should not try to
> replace itself.
There are instances in which this is actually desirable. If
you want to force a slot, remove the other thing. Most
people would be seriously confused if they found themselves
suddenly unable to replace an item with a slightly better
copy of the same thing.
> AMystery: we need an exit survey. when someone deletes
> they should be asked a few questions, at least one asking
> for a reason. it would be a good way to learn what people
> dislike
This is a good idea, but something tells me most people in
the process of deleting characters are either a) long-term
players here with many characters or b) probably not in the
mood to respond earnestly to our exit survey.
> Squiddy: when you look at a demon with a head, it should
> say "Another head even uglier than his/her/its first one"
> insead of "...YOUR first one"
Yeah, yeah. Properly correcting for mud grammar on the fly
is a difficult problem to solve.
> Squiddy: Newbies should get a little thing that imms do to
> send a message to the whole realms that suggests to go to
> the BR web page and read the new player guide
We could put that in the newbie text just below the MOTD, I
suppose.
> Puppetmon: Make it so you can make recall to different
> cities, such as Malathar, Malcandria, Pelendra
Unless Kiri aggressively demands it, I'm never changing word
of recall. Ever. You want to go to Malathar? Walk.
> Ghaleon: Infravision should also work on the "exit"
> command and say the room next to it, instead of "Too dark to
> tell."
Maybe you can make out what the mobs are, but you still
can't quite tell exactly what else is in the next room.
> Cacophony: an offhand (item) command, since really someone
> would be able to chose which item to hold in which hand
> without the need to trick themselves by wearing a rock
> hammer first
There already IS an offhand command...
> Beakster: explain what exactly a quest is in the help
> quest
I think quests are something that's actually better
experienced than explained. Or maybe experienced AS
they're explained.
> By Rabies:
>
> Been a while since I went on a submitting spree, but I
> heard on the message board that this was a good time to
> submit ideas.
>
> A "speco_evil" for mobs:
> Combat:
> Casts curse, blind, web, and illusion in combat
> If health < 25%, will cast "bamf" on players
> Attempts to summon helper monsters in combat (looks for an extra
> description in the room, something like "smon [mnum]"
>
> Outside of combat:
> Will cast spells to heal itself to at least 50% health
> before taking active actions.
> Has memory.
> Will use "where" to scan for players it hates in its area
> and teleport to them to attack.
> Remembers its "home" square and teleports back after fights.
> Will teleport unworthy opponents (> 5 level difference) to
> a specified room number after making a snarky comment.
> ("Begone, pathetic wretch. I have no time to waste on the
> likes of you!") This, like the summoning, would also be
> easiest to accomplish with an extra room description. At
> least until Slart allows specos to take arguments,
> anyway...
>
> Submitted another pair of speco ideas via the "idea"
> command, since they were short. Plenty more if you want
> them - some practical, some not.
>
> -N/Rabies
Maybe we could call it "speco_rabies_is_evil".
-Slart
--------------------
Kiri's WWW of URLs:
Are you stressed? From Scavenger.
http://webpages.charter.net/hkirtley/stress/
Check out this neat Kitty world
http://www.byardenc.om/writing/pets/fun ... house.html
The Smoking Gun- read all the fun legal stuff on celebs
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/
The Sun, Britain's biggest selling trash newspaper. But oooh so much fun to read
http://www.thesun.co.uk/
--------------------
From Amystery:
Unfortunately I can't claim credit for this amazing story, but it bears repeating, at least for the computer geeks in the audience.
IBM, Red Hat, and SuSE are bikers hanging out at a seedy bar in Southern California, by the shore. Their harleys are parked out front, all choppers, gleaming and evil looking. Currently, IBM and Red Hat are playing a traditional game: each holds a lit cigar to his forearm while SuSE counts the seconds, with two twenty dollar bills at stake. A few feet away, the BSD brothers are playing cards at an outside table, a quart of Mexican tequila and a bunch of shotglasses next to the deck. Periodically, they throw back a shot. Their rusty Jeep Renegade sits nearby. Suddenly, there's a little lawnmower sound. A go-kart with a broken muffler pulls up, bumping into the Harleys and knocking them down. IBM, Red Hat, and Suse ferociously stride over and bellow.
"HEY, MAN! THOSE ARE OUR BIKES!"
A fat little kid wearing a shirt with wide horizontal stripes and a pair of bermuda shorts held up by orange suspenders jumps out of the go-kart and saunters over to the bikes. He's got freckles, bright red hair, and triple-thick glasses. He's obviously not "all there".
Fat kid: "Hi. I'm SCO. Motorbikes suck; I drive a go-kart." (kicks the nearest bike, breaking the headlight). If it wasn't for my Go-Kart technology, you wouldn't even HAVE these bikes. You should buy me some beers in appreciation."
IBM: (seething). "That was my bike. Kid, you really shouldn't have done that." Red Hat: (shakes head). SuSE: (muttering) "Gott in Himmel" (laughs)
IBM walks over, grabs the kid by the suspenders, and lifts him clear off the ground, bouncing him up and down while looking him over. Then, he tosses the kid way up in the air, catching him on the way down by his underwear waistband and yanking upwards with both hands. With a great stretching sound, the drawers pull all the way over the kid's head. IBM lets go, and they snap into place.
Everyone: MUHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Red Hat: "Hey, IBM, do that shit again!" SuSE: "Funny!" The BSD brothers: "huh huh huh huh -- HE said SHIT!"
SCO (through his underwear): "You buncha creeps! My grandfather used to own this land. I'll tear down this bar and make you take your alky bullshit somewhere else! And, what's up with that biker gay-chic thing?"
IBM: "Oh, my lawd, he went there." Red Hat: "Oh, you didn't..." SuSE: "Uh oh..." BSD Brother number 1: "Oh, boy, here we go."
IBM leans over, grabs the kid by the ankles, and heads to the outhouse. He kicks the door open, goes in, and the door slams.
(from inside)
SCO: Noooooooooo!
(SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH).
IBM comes walking back out, without SCO. He takes a long pull from the tequila bottle.
IBM: "Damn." BSD Brothers, in unison: "What, what happened, man?" IBM: "Damn..." Red Hat: "Hey, where'd the brat go?" SuSE: "Yeah, you gave him the swirly, right?" IBM: "Yep." Red Hat: "So... ?" IBM: "He's a slippery little bastard when he gets wet. Popped right out of my hands and went down into the latrine!"
Everyone: "NO WAY!"
IBM: "Yeah... Poor little bastard. Ah, well. What can you do? Maybe he'll swim back up outta it."
(about a minute later)
SCO flops out of the toilet seat, landing on the ground in front of the toilet, covered in green goo.
SCO: "URH! URG! CTHULU FLAGNTH!" Red Hat: "Hey, boys, somethin' ain't right about that kid, man. It looks like he's growin' fins."
Everyone looks. SCO has turned into a weirdo fish-man.
SCO: "CTHULU FLAGNTH!" IBM: "Well, whaddaya know?"
SCO runs across the parking lot, and leaps off the cliff into the sea.
SCO: "CTHULU FLAAAAAAAAAAAGNTH!" (SPLASH)
IBM, looking over the edge. "Well, I guess that's about that." Red Hat: "You don't see THAT every day." SuSE: "Pass me that there tequila bottle, ok?"
(fade to black)
You all thought I was going to get into the Microsoft/Cthulu thing, didn'tcha? Ha! Fooled ya!
Taken from a Slashdot.org post by:
crazyphilman (609923) on Tuesday July 08, @04:22PM (#6395029)
Cacophony: implement lose all, similar to group all
> Good idea, though I don't much group anymore, got tired leveling.
Cacophony: a way to recall with your vehicle (at a cost of 75%? 90%?) mv
> This can be a nice idea, we have a Nissan Maxima in Keep of Mahn-Tor, I'd like to take it home.
Puppetmon: I think High Level Druids alts are being used as mana batteries, why not just remove energy transfer skills?
> Something's wrong with you. You need to go yank all your teeth off and repost this.
Sozz: Timestamps on chath and heroh...and questh
AMystery: how about a time stamp a few channels, especially info and whatever newbies show on for heroes
> Timestamps on all channels would be a good thing too.
Ghaleon: beeph would be really helpful *g*
> You're a genius. <3
Puppetmon: what about an enflame armor spell? to be used on armor with a magic flag
> Help 'Enflame Weapon'
'ENFLAME WEAPON'
Flaming items enhance the user's ability to do damage with offensive spells.
This spell will attach an enflamed tip to any weapon that already carries a
magical aura. The effect of flaming items is cumulative.
I think this elf knows that their damage increases with flaming items, not only weapons. So why not?
Puppetmon: Put an Asterix "*" next to OOG skills when you type slist
> Good idea. It's make things easier, I guess. *shrugs*
Puppetmon: Add a help file for Save vs Spell, it could save alot of time for people who arent aware of what it is
Puppetmon: Spell or idea that gets rid of mobs flying flag, besides dispel magic
> Good idea, though I don't much group anymore, got tired leveling.
Cacophony: a way to recall with your vehicle (at a cost of 75%? 90%?) mv
> This can be a nice idea, we have a Nissan Maxima in Keep of Mahn-Tor, I'd like to take it home.
Puppetmon: I think High Level Druids alts are being used as mana batteries, why not just remove energy transfer skills?
> Something's wrong with you. You need to go yank all your teeth off and repost this.
Sozz: Timestamps on chath and heroh...and questh
AMystery: how about a time stamp a few channels, especially info and whatever newbies show on for heroes
> Timestamps on all channels would be a good thing too.
Ghaleon: beeph would be really helpful *g*
> You're a genius. <3
Puppetmon: what about an enflame armor spell? to be used on armor with a magic flag
> Help 'Enflame Weapon'
'ENFLAME WEAPON'
Flaming items enhance the user's ability to do damage with offensive spells.
This spell will attach an enflamed tip to any weapon that already carries a
magical aura. The effect of flaming items is cumulative.
I think this elf knows that their damage increases with flaming items, not only weapons. So why not?
Puppetmon: Put an Asterix "*" next to OOG skills when you type slist
> Good idea. It's make things easier, I guess. *shrugs*
Puppetmon: Add a help file for Save vs Spell, it could save alot of time for people who arent aware of what it is
Puppetmon: Spell or idea that gets rid of mobs flying flag, besides dispel magic
All Quotes from Slart...
But that's the point... "many" potions are. Many are not. Since taking them internally now only does the good things, then chucking them at someone else to do the bad things is a logical trade-off. If you're not going to make taking a potion with fireball internally have negative effects, at least give them SOME effect.> Disaster: a skill toss that would toss a potion at an
> enemy, to cause teh spells of the potion to act on the enemy
Surely many/most potions must be taken internally for proper
effects.
Want them to go to the bank? Allow thieves to steal out of packs. It seems to me that if you're walking down the street not paying attention, some kender could sneak up behind you and lift those coins right out of your pack. A locked pack could prevent this and the chance that you "Detect someone's hands in your pockets" could be increased in this case.> Bedlam: protected mobs shouldn't be thieves
Put most of your money in the bank, and the rest in your
pack. Until more people actually use the bank, I'd just as
soon have ALL thieves be protected mobs!
*Looks at Slart, shakes his head, and walks away*> Squidster: you should be able to use vision while resting.
> it's just sight!
It's a little-known fact that the ability of avians to
dramatically improve their vision on command is based
biologically not in their eyes, but in their ears, and a
highly evolved two-way neurological connection between the
visual and auditory cortices and cerebellum in the avian
brain and an avian's eyes, ears, and vestibular system.
This bit of biological cross-wiring allows them to
subconsciously augment the purely light-based images their
eyes capture with sonar-like data drawn from subsonic
vibrations in the air resonating through their hollow bones
and thin skull which are picked up by the inner ear. The
net result of this is that avians can then "see" otherwise
hidden or invisible aspects of their environment. These
neurological connections lie dormant most of the time, fully
activated only by a conscious effort on the part of the
sufficiently experienced avian. Because of the connection
to their highly developed sense of balance, avians must be
standing in order for this effort to achieve the desired
result, lest any altered equilibrium cause their brain to
incorrectly calibrate the additional visual data. Once the
connection is made, however, standing is no longer necessary
for some time.
This should be multiple specs (hah! Slart fell into his own pet peeve of spec vs speco) and mobs should be able to run multiple specs at once like objects can.> By Rabies:
>
> Been a while since I went on a submitting spree, but I
> heard on the message board that this was a good time to
> submit ideas.
>
> A "speco_evil" for mobs:
> Combat:
> Casts curse, blind, web, and illusion in combat
> If health < 25%, will cast "bamf" on players
> Attempts to summon helper monsters in combat (looks for an extra
> description in the room, something like "smon [mnum]"
>
> Outside of combat:
> Will cast spells to heal itself to at least 50% health
> before taking active actions.
> Has memory.
> Will use "where" to scan for players it hates in its area
> and teleport to them to attack.
> Remembers its "home" square and teleports back after fights.
> Will teleport unworthy opponents (> 5 level difference) to
> a specified room number after making a snarky comment.
> ("Begone, pathetic wretch. I have no time to waste on the
> likes of you!") This, like the summoning, would also be
> easiest to accomplish with an extra room description. At
> least until Slart allows specos to take arguments,
> anyway...
>
> Submitted another pair of speco ideas via the "idea"
> command, since they were short. Plenty more if you want
> them - some practical, some not.
>
> -N/Rabies
Maybe we could call it "speco_rabies_is_evil".
-Slart
Fine art is the only teacher except torture.
- George Bernard Shaw
- George Bernard Shaw
More requests for timestamps - yay! I definetly second (thrid? thriteenth?) the idea of having timestamps show up in all of the 'h' commands... would be quite helpful, me thinks...Sozz: Timestamps on chath and heroh...and questh
AMystery: how about a time stamp a few channels, especially info and whatever newbies show on for heroes
...and I still think an optional timestamp field in one's prompt would be handy, too, even if this change is added - for things that don't have an 'h' command... like says or socials...
I'd suggest that personalized items be non-sell-able and non-sanc-able by anyone except the person to whom the item is customized.Suicide: personalized items sold to a shop should go "poof"
Slart: Yeah, this is probably true, come to think of it...
Related to this, I'd also suggest that donated items be non-sell-able as well...
*anticipation*Millions: Vehicles shouldn't melt--could be towed or something but you rarely see a car "melt"
Slart: File this under "worthwhile but purely aesthetic improvements that should go on the end of the to-do list but probably will be ignored for a few months." It's the best I can do; I have much work to do just now (some of which you guys will even LIKE)!
In the meantime, "purely aesthetic" doesn't seem entirely accurate, given that a good (flying) vehicle will run you 1.5 million... that's a lot of gold for a mort. They'd be a much more worthwhile (utilized?) investment if they would last a bit longer/not melt (or be less expensive, I suppose)...
*rofl*Squidster: you should be able to use vision while resting. it's just sight!
Slart: It's a little-known fact that the ability of avians to dramatically improve their vision on command is based biologically not in their eyes, but in their ears...
:-)
Mortals have weight carry limits. Do you really think they can pick up a verhicle and put it in their back pocket?In the meantime, "purely aesthetic" doesn't seem entirely accurate, given that a good (flying) vehicle will run you 1.5 million... that's a lot of gold for a mort. They'd be a much more worthwhile (utilized?) investment if they would last a bit longer/not melt (or be less expensive, I suppose)...
Fine art is the only teacher except torture.
- George Bernard Shaw
- George Bernard Shaw
Slart...is my hero.It's a little-known fact that the ability of avians to
dramatically improve their vision on command is based
biologically not in their eyes, but in their ears, and a
highly evolved two-way neurological connection between the
visual and auditory cortices and cerebellum in the avian
brain and an avian's eyes, ears, and vestibular system.
This bit of biological cross-wiring allows them to
subconsciously augment the purely light-based images their
eyes capture with sonar-like data drawn from subsonic
vibrations in the air resonating through their hollow bones
and thin skull which are picked up by the inner ear. The
net result of this is that avians can then "see" otherwise
hidden or invisible aspects of their environment. These
neurological connections lie dormant most of the time, fully
activated only by a conscious effort on the part of the
sufficiently experienced avian. Because of the connection
to their highly developed sense of balance, avians must be
standing in order for this effort to achieve the desired
result, lest any altered equilibrium cause their brain to
incorrectly calibrate the additional visual data. Once the
connection is made, however, standing is no longer necessary
for some time.
...or something like that, anyway.
--Lairian
I believe Bedlam is mostly referring to the weaponsmith in Alandra. You need to get your money out of your pack to pay the guy, and he ends up stealing it, and you don't even get your item. I'm fine with protected thieves, but NOT with thieving shopkeepers.> Bedlam: protected mobs shouldn't be thieves
Put most of your money in the bank, and the rest in your
pack. Until more people actually use the bank, I'd just as
soon have ALL thieves be protected mobs!
Want them to go to the bank? Allow thieves to steal out of packs. It seems to me that if you're walking down the street not paying attention, some kender could sneak up behind you and lift those coins right out of your pack. A locked pack could prevent this and the chance that you "Detect someone's hands in your pockets" could be increased in this case.
Sozz
- disaster
- Needs Help
- Posts: 572
- Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2003 12:47 am
- Location: the true north strong and free
- Contact:
that was the most glaring example sozz, yes. no others are coming to mind at eh moment.
> Cacophony: an offhand (item) command, since really someone
> would be able to chose which item to hold in which hand
> without the need to trick themselves by wearing a rock
> hammer first
There already IS an offhand command...
yes, there is an "offhand" command-but it doesn't work the way that i think it should. if i'm not wearing any weapons, and i type "offhand sword" my sword is wielded, not put into offhand. if i am wielding a sword, and have a whip which weighs more than the sword, typing "offhand whip" will say i need to offhand something that weighs less. basicly, "offhand" is exactly the same as "wear", only takes longer to type. i think it's reasonable to be able to wear whatever weapon in whatever hand i desire, without having to trick myself into being able to do it.
> Cacophony: an offhand (item) command, since really someone
> would be able to chose which item to hold in which hand
> without the need to trick themselves by wearing a rock
> hammer first
There already IS an offhand command...
yes, there is an "offhand" command-but it doesn't work the way that i think it should. if i'm not wearing any weapons, and i type "offhand sword" my sword is wielded, not put into offhand. if i am wielding a sword, and have a whip which weighs more than the sword, typing "offhand whip" will say i need to offhand something that weighs less. basicly, "offhand" is exactly the same as "wear", only takes longer to type. i think it's reasonable to be able to wear whatever weapon in whatever hand i desire, without having to trick myself into being able to do it.
"Freedom of speech" is not the same thing as "Freedom from consequences".
Reasonable? Sure. But I like it this way. It provides an additional role for equipment, the rock hammer/plasma mallet/mage masher role. It adds a level of complexity if your offhand weapon is disarmed in combat. Anything that adds complexity to combat and makes more items useful is good for the game in my book...or at the very least not so bad for the game that we need to spend development time removing the feature.
It might also be well to remember that the ability to work around the offhand weapon weight restriction could, in a certain light, be construed as a bug.
It might also be well to remember that the ability to work around the offhand weapon weight restriction could, in a certain light, be construed as a bug.
Snarf's comment aside, I wasn't suggesting that vehicles be pick-up-able; just that they don't time out quite as quickly (or at all, as per the originally-submitted idea).Cord: In the meantime, "purely aesthetic" doesn't seem entirely accurate, given that a good (flying) vehicle will run you 1.5 million... that's a lot of gold for a mort. They'd be a much more worthwhile (utilized?) investment if they would last a bit longer/not melt (or be less expensive, I suppose)...
Divebomb: Mortals have weight carry limits. Do you really think they can pick up a verhicle and put it in their back pocket?
Vehicles are actually really useful things, but I'd wager very few people ever make use of them due to their price, melt-a-bility, and no-recall-ablility. (The no-recall aspect seems fine to me, but the price and melt-timing could perhaps be tweaked to encourage vehicle use at least a little bit...)
</babble>
Agree. It seems rather silly to even _allow_ potions to have offensive spells if there is no way for them to do anything, aside from produce a "You can't do that." message. (It came up in the game again today, a newish player wondering why he wasn't able to hit anything with his potion of frost breath.)Disaster: a skill toss that would toss a potion at an enemy, to cause teh spells of the potion to act on the enemy
Slart: Surely many/most potions must be taken internally for proper effects.
Divebomb: But that's the point... "many" potions are. Many are not. Since taking them internally now only does the good things, then chucking them at someone else to do the bad things is a logical trade-off. If you're not going to make taking a potion with fireball internally have negative effects, at least give them SOME effect.
Having such potions be internally damaging when quaffed, as DB mentioned, would be kinda fun tho... ;-)